Embassy Row

UKRAINE SHAKE-UP

Ukraine’s pro-Russia president sacked the country’s ambassador in Washington on Wednesday, as part of a shake-up of the diplomatic corps to reverse the pro-Western policies of the former government.

President Viktor Yanukovych announced the dismissal of Ambassador Oleh Shamshur on his presidential website but did not cite a reason for his action, according to press reports from Kiev.

However, Mr. Shamshur, a career diplomat, was closely associated with the pro-Western government of former President Viktor Yushchenko, whose election victory after the 2004 Orange Revolution signaled a break from Moscow’s sphere of influence.

Mr. Shamshur, ambassador to the United States since 2006, served as deputy minister of foreign affairs under Mr. Yushchenko. He joined the foreign service in 1993.

The ambassador was a strong advocate of Ukrainian democracy and frequently praised the Orange Revolution, a popular uprising against Mr. Yanukovych in his first attempt to gain the presidency in 2004 in an election widely regarded as fraudulent.

“The Orange Revolution and the following events demonstrated to the global community the new Ukrainian citizen, who realized his courage, power and the ability to find justice and defend his rights,” Mr. Shamshur said in December at a reception honoring the Voice of America’s Ukrainian broadcast service.

“The last five years started the qualitative realignment of the Ukrainian political system and economic relations,” he added.

In a 2008 congressional hearing on NATO enlargement, Mr. Shamshur said, “Events of the Orange Revolution of 2004 constituted a convincing proof of the maturity of the Ukrainian society. Ukrainian people put an end to the emerging authoritarian tendencies in governance and rejected the results of a forged election.”

Mr. Yanukovych this week also dismissed the ambassadors to Afghanistan, Austria, Israel, Poland and Portugal.

Since his inauguration in February, Mr. Yanukovych has moved swiftly to restore friendly relations with Russia, while angering nearly half of the country. He was elected with the overwhelming support of Russian-speaking Ukrainians.

He criticized his predecessor’s administration for spending “five years portraying Russia as the enemy.” Last month, he set off protests and fistfights in parliament by signing an agreement that gives Russia’s Black Sea Fleet 25 more years of use of the naval base at the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol.

OREN GETS SUPPORT

Brandeis University students appear eager to give Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren a warm reception when he delivers the graduation address this month, unlike angry students who protested his remarks at the University of California at Irvine and American University in Washington.

Students, parents, alumni and members of the Jewish community in the Boston region have added their signatures to a petition with 5,000 names supporting the ambassador’s appearance at the May 23 commencement ceremony.

By contrast, students who oppose his appearance at Brandeis have gathered only about 150 signatures, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post. However, it was the opposition to Mr. Oren that inspired student Adam Ross to circulate a pro-Oren petition.

“Brandeis is a very friendly campus to Zionism and Israel, so it didn’t make sense that there was only this rhetoric against Ambassador Oren coming to campus,” Mr. Ross told the Israeli newspaper.

The university was named after Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish member of the Supreme Court.

In February, Palestinian students at the University of California at Irvine shouted down Mr. Oren as he attempted to address a college assembly. In April, a small group of demonstrators protested at American University.

• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297 or e-mail jmorrison@washingtontimes.com.